A Kildare agri-business company has won the overall National Enterprise Award for 2018, with Terra Liquid Minerals taking the top prize for its automated mineral dosing system for farmers, which provides over 50,000 dairy cows with liquid minerals, via their drinking water.
The Athy business, founded by Tom and Padraig Hennessy and backed by their Local Enterprise Office, employs ten people and announced a €2m expansion programme late last year.
LEO network chair Sheelagh Daly said: “Terra Liquid Minerals are very deserving winners this year because of how they have helped farmers to improve animal health through drinking water by providing an innovative solution. The automated controller that they developed here in Ireland, thanks to financial assistance from their Local Enterprise Office, has global appeal for farming communities around the world.”
This year’s Awards at the Mansion House in Dublin celebrated ’20 years of winners’, with LEO-backed companies in Kildare, Clare, Carlow and Laois, including Terra, taking home the gold gongs. Best startup was Get The Shifts in Clare, best exporter was Burren Precast Concrete in Carlow, and the award for innovation went to Laois’s Cyc-lok. Each award included €5,000 in cash.
The regional awards, netting €2,000 plus the medal, were as follows:
In Association with
Dublin: WeBringg, a 90-minute online sales delivery service
South-west: Horizon Offsite, a light-gauge steel building system
Mid-east: Irish Craft Canning, beverage process and packaging services
South: Blackwater Distillery, which makes gin
South-east: Asistec, which provides solutions for cell storage and growth
North-west: Niche Specialist Staffing Partners, an international recruitment firm for construction estimators
North-east: Avail, mobile healthcare solution for those with learning difficulties
West: Joint-It, a ready-mixed jointing compound manufacturer.
Photo: Padraig Hennessy (left) and Tom Hennessy (Pic: Martina Regan)
